US Mideast failures prompt new Iran sanctions: MP

A senior Iranian lawmaker says the US has tightened sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear energy program in a bid to compensate for its failures in the Middle East, Press TV reported.

"The new US sanctions against Iranian companies and individuals are [meant to] make up for the failure of the White House's policies in the region," First Vice Speaker of Iran's Majlis Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard said on Monday.

"The new sanctions will not only fail to have any achievement for Washington but will weaken the US stance in the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 [group of world powers]," he added.

On August 29, the US government announced the imposition of a new round of sanctions on over 25 individuals and companies, including shipping firms, oil companies, airlines and six banks despite the fact that Iran and the six world powers - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US and Germany - are in the process of talks with the intention of resolving the West's nuclear standoff with Iran.